


Dividing By Zero

by paenteom



Series: solving for x [1]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: (seriously it's so big you can see it from space), Angry Pining, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Repression, Sameen's Massive Monster Crush on Joss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 09:18:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9541262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paenteom/pseuds/paenteom
Summary: Carter showed up fifteen minutes later, politely knocking against the passenger side window and waiting for Sameen to reach over and open the door. Her hair was tousled and her face was flushed, and Sameen felt suddenly and inexplicably hot, despite the cold gust of night air the open door brought with it.A number forces Shaw and Carter to spend a lot of time together. Unfortunately for Shaw, her subconscious has Opinions™ about that.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy femslash February everyone. <3 
> 
> This is set somewhere in season 3, and coincidentally also in a parallel universe in which Carter never dies and her & Shaw just go on cute double dates with Reese & Finch forever, thanks.
> 
> Thanks so much to cy [cypress_tree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cypress_tree) for betaing this for me with so much care, you are my favourite. ♥ ♥ ♥

"So what you're saying,” Sameen asked, balancing precariously at the foot of Finch's desk. “Is that it's been a full two days since your machine handed us this guy's number and we still have absolutely no lead on whether he's a perpetrator or a victim, or what his deal even is?" 

Finch regarded her over the rim of his glasses in that inscrutable way of his, mouth turned down almost imperceptibly.

"Essentially."

"Wow," she said. "I can tell Reese has done a great job on this one."

"Hey!" Reese yelped from somewhere behind her, affronted. Sameen ignored him.

"Mr. Reese's skills aren't the problem here," Finch said. "It's the fact that, well–"

"This guy never leaves his house," Reese said from behind her. "Or his desk chair for that matter."

"Can't you do your hacking mojo and find out what he does on his computer all day?" Sameen asked, leaning over to peer at Finch’s monitors.

Finch turned his upper body towards her, puffing up like an offended bird. Sameen belatedly remembered that he didn't like it when people got too close to his nerd set up. She slipped off the desk to scan the data he collected from a safe distance instead. Normally she wouldn't really care about Finch’s sensibilities, or, for that matter, personal space, but she liked the newfound easy camaraderie they'd developed lately. It wouldn't do to jeopardize that by offending the person who hands you fat stacks of money at the end of each job.

"I have, Ms. Shaw," Finch said, relaxing his posture. "But it doesn't seem he really does anything at all besides play massive multiplayer online roleplay games."

"Huh," Sameen shrugged. "So what now?"

Finch's eyebrows scrunched up. "I've not known The Machine to send us numbers that are not in imminent danger, or planning anything too far off. Mr. Jenkins is going to be involved in something, somewhere, soon. Unfortunately it seems impossible to tell how or when at this point. The only thing that really remains is to watch him perpetually until it becomes clear what we're dealing with."

"Stakeouts," Reese said behind her, sounding far too cheerful for her liking.

"Stakeouts," Finch confirmed, looking a lot less happy at the prospect than Reese.

"Mr. Reese and I will take the first shift. I've already contacted Detective Carter, who's agreed to help you with the second."

Sameen shrugged. "Fine by me," she said. "At least I'm not the one who has to put up with Reese's music taste this time."

She ignored this offended yelp, too.

*

Sameen flexed her fingers against the cold. Her breath was forming tiny clouds in front of her face, and not even her warmest coat was shielding her against the chill night air. She was quietly grateful that Finch's cars all had excellent heating systems.

The car was parked at the corner of the street; Jenkin's house a few feet away. She could make out the boys’ silhouettes from afar, Reese leaning against the window of the driver's side and Finch sitting up straight,slightly illuminated from below—his laptop presumably. Sameen wondered briefly if he had ever considered surgically attaching himself to it.

Reese spotted her first. He waved in her direction, like an idiot, which she elected to ignore. She rapped against the window with her knuckles and waited for him to roll it down.

"Anything interesting?"

"Absolutely nothing," Reese said. He didn't seem particularly bothered by that yet. Finch looked more concerned, his mouth compressed into a straight, worried line.

"Good evening, Ms. Shaw," he said. "I'm afraid all we've accomplished tonight is wasted time."

"Aw, I wouldn't say that," Reese said. "We did finally settle what your favourite baseball team is."

Finch didn't exactly roll his eyes, but he looked like he wanted to.

"If you could kindly realign your priorities away from interrogating me and onto briefing Ms. Shaw," he said primly, and shut his laptop.

Reese brought Sameen up to speed on what their number had been up to while Finch checked in with Carter. She was still a few minutes away, so Sameen shooed Reese out of his seat and settled in for the night. She watched Reese and Finch disappear down the street, clearly bickering, Reese slowing down his usual fast stride to keep pace with Finch's uneven gait. She refused to feel fond.

Carter showed up fifteen minutes later, politely knocking against the passenger side window and waiting for Sameen to reach over and open the door. Her hair was tousled and her face was flushed, and Sameen felt suddenly and inexplicably hot, despite the cold gust of night air the open door brought with it.

"Sorry," Carter said, clearly still a little out of breath. "Emergency three blocks down from here. Hope I didn't miss anything important."

Sameen gave her a slight smile and shook her head.

"Nope. Everything's quiet."

Carter maneuvered herself into the car seat and sighed with relief when the door closed and the cold was finally blocked out. She wiggled until she was comfortable and gave a gentle sigh of contentment.

"You gotta hand it to Finch," she said. "At least he spends his money wisely. These seat heaters are a dream."

"Hm." Sameen’s tongue was suddenly awkward and heavy in her mouth. She stared intently at the streetlamp outside, her foot tapping an uneven rhythm against the brake pedal. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Carter opening the overhead mirror and gently brushing her fingers through her hair until was sitting a little less unruly. She didn't seem particularly bothered by Sameen's silence, so there was absolutely no reason for her to open her mouth and ask "What happened?" Yet the words stumbled out into the air anyway.

Sameen didn’t look at Carter while she spoke, just fixed her gaze on the street lamp instead. She could sense rather than see Carter turning her head in her direction. Her neck began to tingle.

"Someone's mom got real drunk. Wanted to drive. Couldn't be persuaded to stay home. The kid panicked, called the cops. I was in the vicinity, so I dropped by."

"People who can't hold their drink shouldn't be allowed near alcohol," Sameen said. "Especially not if they have kids."

"You speaking from personal experience?"

Sameen did tear her gaze away from the street lamp then. Carter's gaze was sharp, incisive, her head slightly cocked to the side like she was studying her. There was the faintest hint of a smile on her face, her lips turned up slightly at the corners. Sameen forced herself to look anywhere but her mouth.

"My parents didn't drink," she said. "They were both Muslim."

She didn't really know why she just told her that. Sameen didn't usually volunteer private information to near strangers, especially not about her family. Hell, she didn't even normally bother to engage in small talk, especially not on missions. It distracted her and kept her focus from what matters. Cole usually chatted aimlessly into her ear anyway, didn't care about whether he got a reply or not. Her fingers twitched in her lap, his voice suddenly crystal clear in her mind, as if he was feeding her intel again.

She curled her fingers into the wool of her coat and shook it off.

"Is the kid alright?" Sameen found herself asking.

"Yeah," Carter said. Her voice was soft, almost knowing. "Yeah, she had a bit of a fright but she's fine."

There were still stray strands of hair falling over Carter’s eyes. Sameen had a sudden impulse to reach out and smooth them away, but instead, she fixed her gaze on the street lamp.

There were moths dancing in the light, drawing intricate patterns into the air. Every now and then, one collided with the hot lamp surface and fell into the shadows and out of her field of vision. Sameen sat in Finch's ridiculously expensive car with its ridiculously comfortable seats and watched the moths dance. She tried not to give in to the sudden inexplicable fury rising up inside of her at the fact that she lived in a world where something strained towards light so desperately that it killed itself in the process.

She didn't speak again for the rest of the night.

*

The coffee shop was small and cramped, people jostling each other and squeezing past tables as they navigated the lunch break coffee rush. Jenkins was sitting at a corner table at the very back, hunched over his laptop and typing furiously. He had barely touched his coffee or eclair.

Sameen stretched her legs and took a sip of her Frappuccino.

"Why the deviation from protocol?" she murmured.

Finch's voice flared to life in her earpiece, crisp as ever.

"Apparently he's unable to access the internet at his home. There's a problem with his router. I'm not sure whether that's somehow connected to whatever he will be involved in or not."

"They could be trying to flush him out. Get him in a public place."

"Perhaps. There's no way to tell yet. Keep a close eye on him, Ms. Shaw."

Sameen closed the connection. She could see Carter at the cashier, fishing notes out of her wallet and accepting a big, steaming mug. She made her way over to Sameen's table, carefully cradling her coffee in both hands.

"This better taste amazing," she said as she sat down. "The price is ridiculous."

Sameen shrugged. "That's New York for you."

"Was it different then, where you lived before?"

Sameen shot her a sharp glance. There was nothing but genuine, open curiosity in Carter's gaze, but she still felt uncomfortably flayed open. She shifted in her chair, aware of the fact that Finch, or any of the people sitting at nearby tables, could be listening in.

"Yes," she said, and left it at that.

Carter didn't press the issue. For a while they both sat quietly next to each other and sipped their respective beverages, watching the bustling hive of people around them. Jenkins didn't move from his spot or pause his furious typing. Sameen adjusted her chair until she could comfortably see him from the corner of her eye, and then began to spoon the cream out of her cup.

"Somehow I figured you take your coffee black," Carter said suddenly. She was leaning her chin on her fist, studying her from across the table.

Sameen raised her eyebrow. "Do I seem bitter?" she asked, without any real malice.

Carter smiled. "No, just very no-nonsense."

Sameen grinned around a spoonful of cream. "I don't like to be predictable." She dropped the spoon into the empty cup and leaned back in her chair. "Also, I need sugar to make it through the day. A lot of it."

Carter laughed, a low sound that sent flutters through Sameen's stomach. It made her entire face light up, eyes crinkling at the corners, soft. Sameen dropped her gaze to the table top and watched the condensation pool under her plastic cup. She felt somehow awkward and misshapen in a way she couldn’t exactly place.

"What do you think is going on with him anyway?" she asked, trying to change the topic and find familiar footing.

Carter shot Jenkins a look, her brow wrinkling.

"I don't know. There's absolutely nothing about him in the NYPD database and from what Finch told me he doesn't seem to be involved in anything suspicious. If I didn't know that–"

She broke off suddenly, darting a glance at the people around her.

"If I didn't know that the intel you guys get has never been wrong before, I'd seriously be doubting Finch's little machine at the moment," she continued in a much lower tone.

Sameen raised her eyebrows. "You know?"

"Figured it out a couple months in," Carter said. "He's really not as good at keeping this secret as he'd like to think."

She gave a smug smile in Sameen's direction, who couldn’t help but smile back. She was more than a little impressed. Carter may act blasé about it, but Sameen had seen the lengths Finch went to in order to turn himself and The Machine into ghosts. She knew the detective was capable—had seen it first hand—but sniffing out any of Finch's many secrets was remarkable anyway.

"He straight-up told me when we met for the first time," she said. "Guess he figured keeping it secret was pointless if any old NYPD detective could figure it out."

She winked, and immediately regretted it.

Carter seemed amused, leaning back in her chair with her elbows loosely balanced on the short backrest.

"You calling me old?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with humour.

"Distinguished," Sameen said, successfully resisting the temptation to wink again.

Carter's facial expression changed suddenly, her eyes widening with surprise and her back turning ramrod straight.

"Shit."

"What?" Sameen said. She checked on Jenkins but he hadn't moved at all, the eclair still sitting untouched on its napkin next to his elbow.

"That's my colleague," Carter hissed. It looked like she was trying to shrink into her chair. Sameen darted a glance in the direction she was looking, and saw a man with greying hair standing in line. He didn't seem to have noticed them yet.

"Are you on duty right now?" she asked.

"No," Carter said. "But he asked me to stay late and I told him I had to go to a teacher parent conference at my boy's school."

"Whoops."

"Yeah, whoops."

"Do you wanna tail it?" Sameen said. She indicated Jenkins with her thumb. "I don't think this guy's going anywhere. I can hold out on my own for the rest of the shift."

"Are you sure?" Carter asked, her face apologetic.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow. The next coffee's on me."

Sameen tapped her fingers against her head in a mock salute as Carter rose from their table and started to make her way towards the door. Before she even made it past Sameen's chair, a voice rang out through the coffee shop. 

"Carter, is that you?"

Carter froze like she was caught stealing from the cookie jar. She turned slowly, and Sameen could see her force a smile onto her face in real time.

"Kane," she said, fake cheer dripping from her voice. "Didn't think I'd bump into you here."

Kane sidled through the throng of people towards them, his hands full of coffee, his smile seeming genuine.

"It's the case I told you about," he said in a conspiratory tone as soon as he got close enough. "The scene's pretty grim, so I figured I'd get the guys some caffeine to make it easier. What are you doing here?"

There was a small, awkward moment in which Carter opened her mouth only for nothing at all to come out of it. Then Kane noticed Sameen for the first time, and shot her a surprised look.

Carter's gaze darted towards Sameen and back to Kane, lost. The longer the silence went on, the more awkward it got. Sameen made an executive decision. She slid a hand around Carter's waist and leaned into her, giving Kane a small smile. Carter stiffened incrementally underneath her, before catching up with the program and folding her palm over Sameen's.

"Hi," Sameen said, her tone deliberately light and casual. "My name is Sameen. Are you Joss's co-worker?"

She could see the exact moment recognition flared in Kane's face. His eyes widened slightly as he took in the picture the two of them made: Sameen's fingers dipping around Carter's belt loop, her cheek resting slightly against Carter's waist. Carter was warm, firm against Sameen's skin, and the way Sameen slid the smallest bit closer to her was only half for show.

"Oh," Kane said, tonelessly. She could literally track the flush spreading up his neck. Carter's fingers were slowly stroking a small pattern onto the back of Sameen's hand; Sameen could feel the goosebumps spreading all the way down her arm.

"I didn't want the entire department to know," Carter said, her voice low. "I'm not ashamed of it, but–" She shot Kane a very convincing self-conscious smile. "You know how it is. Being a black female detective is already hard enough."

Kane was visibly flustered, but the smile he gave seemed genuine.

"Don't worry, Carter. Your secret is safe with me," he said, and winked at the both of them. "Have fun."

They waved at him until he and his sleeve full of coffee disappeared into the traffic. Sameen immediately dropped her arm once she was sure they were out of sight. She felt suddenly and inexplicably cold, even in the warm air of the coffee shop.

"Quick thinking," Carter said. Her voice was warm, appreciative. She threw Sameen a quick smile, and Sameen averted her gaze and stared at the rings left behind on the table by the drinks of previous patrons. Her neck felt hot.

"How's Jenkins doing?" she asked, desperate to change the topic. Carter's sharp intake of breath had her muscles tensing. She unconsciously trailed her fingers down to the gun hidden underneath her jacket.

"He's gone," Carter hissed. "Must have left while we were distracted."

Sameen tapped her earpiece immediately. "Finch, we've lost him."

Finch made a small affirmative noise, and soon after, she heard his fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Not to worry," he said. "The GPS on his phone indicates that he is on his way home. I'll let Mr. Reese know, we'll take over for now. Please tell Detective Carter I'm very grateful for her help."

Sameen relaxed into the chair, pent up breath escaping her in one big huff.

"Finch's got it under control," she mumbled at Carter's questioning gaze. "He says thanks, by the way."

The corners of Carter's mouth quirked up, amused. "I hope he knows I'm going to cash in all these favours he owes me eventually," she said, her tone fond. She indicated her car, parked just outside the coffee shop, with a short nod of her head. "Do you need a ride back?"

Sameen thought about the last time she shared a car with Carter: her quiet voice in the small space, hushed, her fingers on the edge of the seat, close enough to touch, the weird feeling in Sameen's stomach. Her hand clenched into a fist under the table.

"I'm fine," she said.

"Suit yourself," Carter shrugged. "I'm gonna jet. I need to make dinner for Taylor." She copied Sameen's mock salute from earlier. "See you next week."

Sameen determinedly did not watch her retreating back. She waited for a few minutes before getting up and depositing her empty plastic cup in a trash bin. The jingle of the door seemed unnaturally loud to her ears, and she drew up her shoulders unconsciously against the noise of the traffic outside.

The wind outside was biting. She was at least a half hour’s walk away from her apartment, and for a few seconds she regretted having shot down Carter's offer of a ride. Then she remembered the way her skin had tingled under Carter's fingers, how warm she had been underneath Sameen's grip, and angrily stuffed her fists into her coat pockets. The cold didn't seem so bad in comparison.

*

The air in the library was tense when Sameen arrived. Finch and Reese were bent over a flurry of paper scraps spread over the entire table and blanketing Finch's keyboard. Both of them were silent, frowning intently at the mess.

"Boo," she said from behind them, and watched with satisfaction as Finch jumped. Reese just turned his head and gave her an unimpressed look. She smirked at him and joined them at the desk.

"What's this then?" she asked, trying to make sense of the paper puzzle.

"Mr. Reese and I witnessed Mr. Jenkins shredding these earlier this morning," Finch said, picking up a piece of paper and peering at it closely.

"We fished it out of his garbage but I have no idea what we're looking at," Reese said, sounding frustrated.

"Are you sure it has anything to do with why we got his number?" Sameen asked picking up a couple of scraps and scanning what little she could make out. It seemed to be some form of record of monetary transactions, but she couldn't make sense of which currency it was supposed to be.

"No," Reese said, "but it's not like we have any other leads."

A week of almost 24/7 surveillance had led to absolutely nothing. Jenkins continued to frequent the coffee shop until his Wi-Fi had been repaired, after which he went back to not leaving his house at all. No threat or probable victim was even marginally making themselves known.

All of them were starting to get jumpy and worried, even Sameen. She didn't particularly give a damn about Jenkins' wellbeing, but it angered her that she was floundering this badly. She had no intention of ruining her almost perfect mission completion record any further.

The paper crumpled in her hand, her annoyance unconsciously made manifest. Finch looked a bit alarmed, so she made an effort to smooth out her features and the paper strip both.

"Am I still on rotation today?" she asked, keeping her voice even.

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind," Finch replied. "I know it's not ideal, but it's really the only avenue open to us right now." He gestured towards the mess on his desk. "Mr. Reese and I will endeavor to get to the bottom of this in the meantime."

"That's a hopeful way of putting it," Reese grumbled, but he bent back over the desk anyway.

Sameen was already halfway down the narrow aisle between book shelves when Finch's voice called after her.

"Apologies, I almost forgot," he said. "Detective Carter has asked to be fetched from the precinct, as she does not presently have access to her car."

Sameen hated the nervous energy that filled her at those words. There was no reason for her to react in that way to what was essentially a rational, simple request, and yet she had the urge to bounce on the balls of her feet, or rend apart tissue paper.

"Sure," she bit out. "No problem." She didn't turn around. Finch had read less off her face in the past. It disquieted her. She didn't want him to know about this—whatever this was.

The ride to the precinct stretched endlessly. Sameen's hands clenched tight around the steering wheel the entire time, knuckles white with tension. Her restlessness still hadn't dissipated by the time she arrived.

Sameen hesitated before entering the narrow building, oscillating on the pavement for a while before finally forcing herself up the stairs. Her anger only built throughout, this time directed at herself. There was no reason for her to be acting this way. It was ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. Sameen Shaw does not oscillate—and yet.

The inside of the precinct was busy, cops tearing past her without giving her a second glance. She hadn't the faintest idea where Carter was, and was about to contact Finch for navigational help, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She whipped around, muscles tense.

It was Kane. He gave her a big, friendly smile, and she forced herself to relax her body language and mirror it.

"Are you looking for Detective Carter?" he asked her. "I can show you to her booth." His hand landed on her shoulder as he shepherded her deeper into the building, and she had to fight the urge to deck him.

"She didn't tell me you were visiting her today. Is it a surprise? I love surprises; I'm so glad I get to help out."

He gave her a conspiratory wink. He seemed to do that a lot. Sameen's smile was feeling more and more frozen, but she pushed through the wave of annoyance rising up in her. She spied Carter from afar, typing intently at her desk, and twisted out of Kane's grip.

"I can see her," she said, trying for friendly. "Thanks for the help." She began striding towards Carter as quickly as she could.

"No problem!" Kane said cheerily, and kept pace with her effortlessly. Sameen really wished she had decked him when she had the chance.

“You know, I’m glad you guys realized there’s nothing to be scared of,” he said, while shooting Sameen a meaningful glance. “Everyone here is good people. I’m sure they’ll be supportive.”

Sameen gave a noncommittal grunt. This might actually be the most uncomfortable she had felt so far this week.

Carter was so absorbed in her work that she didn't immediately notice them. Her hair was falling into her face, curling around her cheeks in a way that made Sameen's neck feel hot. Her fingers were flying quickly over her keyboard. Sameen came to a stop next to her desk, and awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Joss," she said. The name felt weird on her tongue, intimate in a way she didn't feel comfortable with. Carter looked up, and broke into a smile when she spotted Sameen.

"Hey," she said, her voice warm, as if Sameen showing up at her workplace was a normal occurrence, as if—as if she were happy to see her. The nervous ball of energy that had been sitting like a rock in the middle of Sameen's chest expanded suddenly. Her own personal supernova.

"You ready to go?" she asked brusquely, to cover up whatever was happening in her body.

"I still have some forms to fill out," Carter said apologetically. "It's been busy today."

"Don't worry about it," Kane said. "I've got you covered." He leaned close to Carter and whispered: "Go spend time with your date."

Carter's face looked uncomprehending for a second, and then her eyes widened slightly, a tell so minuscule even Sameen almost didn't pick it up. Carter's composure returned immediately and she smiled widely up at them.

"Thanks, I owe you," she said to Kane. She pushed herself off her chair and held her arm out to Sameen. "Let's get out of here."

Sameen took it. Carter's jacket was soft beneath her palm, the warmth of her skin bleeding through. Sameen was cognizant of Kane's gaze on them throughout the entire walk through the precinct. Carter must have been, too, because she slid a casual arm around Sameen's waist, pulling her a little closer.

Sameen managed not to flinch. She felt like she should be uncomfortable at Carter's closeness, the presumptuous way she touched Sameen, like she had been been doing it for years. She wasn’t though, and maybe that was the root of the problem.

Carter's hand dropped from Sameen's back the second they stepped outside. Sameen angrily swallowed down the spike of disappointment she felt at the loss of warmth and stomped towards her, or more accurately, Finch's car. They shuffled into the seats in the kind of uneasy silence that made Sameen's skin itch.

"Any news?" Carter asked, her tone easy and light, as if she wasn’t affected by the tense air at all.

"No," Sameen said, angrily jamming her seatbelt closed.

She could feel Carter's gaze on her, cool and calculating, and immediately regretted letting so much emotion leak out. She breathed in deeply and started the car.

"Finch and Reese found some shredded documents but we can't really make sense of them yet," she reluctantly added.

"Can't he ask his Orwellian nightmare for help?" Carter asked, and Sameen snorted.

"I doubt he would, even if he could. You know how he is. One day I'm going to find him making out with an ethics handbook." She meant to affect a disparaging tone, but instead it came out weirdly fond. She could hear Carter exhale softly, a quiet laugh, and Sameen's hand clenched around the steering wheel. She hated how good it made her feel to make Carter laugh, how much she liked the sound.

"So we're stuck watching Jenkins for the foreseeable future?" Carter asked. Sameen gave a quick, sharp nod. "Looks like it."

Carter shrugged. "I guess I could think of worse ways to spend my time. At least the company is good."

The words were casual, said as if they didn't matter at all. Sameen swallowed, her skin suddenly feeling too tight for her. She glanced at Carter out of the corner of her eyes, taking in the slight smile on her face, the way her hair fell over her throat. For one dizzying second Sameen imagined reaching out and touching her, folding her palm over Carter's and holding on.

She angrily shook off the thought. There was no time for whatever this was, and she could not afford distractions. Sameen focused her gaze on the road, and tried not to think about the way Carter's body had felt against hers: comfortable, right.

They barely made it halfway to Jenkins’s apartment before Finch's voice crackled to life in Sameen's ear: "Ms. Shaw, is anything... odd happening at your end?"

Sameen frowned. "We're not there yet. Should there be?"

"I have probable reason to believe that a deep web hit man is on his way to Mr. Jenkins's apartment at this very moment," Finch said, sounding breathless.

"What?" Sameen asked, baffled. "Are you fucking with me, Finch?"

"I wish I were," Finch huffed. Sameen realized how serious it must be when he didn't even comment on her profanity. "This entire venture has escalated rather quickly, I'm afraid. I don't have any time to explain, I'm on my way to fetch Mr. Reese. Please be careful."

The line went dead. Sameen stared out of the windshield, feeling a little flattened.

"What's going on?" Carter asked next to her, frowning.

"I have no idea," Sameen said, and pushed down firmly on the gas pedal.

The navigation system predicted the ride from the precinct to Jenkins' apartment would take forty-five minutes. They made it in thirty.

"You do know that I'm a cop?" Carter huffed out, amused, when they finally pulled into the narrow suburban street. "You just broke so many speed laws I lost count."

She didn't sound truly angry, so Sameen shot her a grin and said. "You can arrest me later." She had no intention of acknowledging how warm Carter's answering smile made her feel.

The door to Jenkins' apartment was standing wide open when they arrived, which made the teasing mood dissipate immediately and replaced it with trepidation. They neared the narrow building slowly, cautiously, Sameen's hand curled around her gun underneath her jacket.

The apartment was silent. Sameen and Carter exchanged a quietly worried glance, before slowly making their way through the narrow hallway.

A low thudding sound came from the room at the end of the corridor and Carter broke into an anxious stride next to her before coming to a sudden halt in the middle of the doorway. Sameen peered around her and snorted at the picture the room's inhabitants presented.

Jenkins was fine. He was pressed against the wall, back flat against the plaster and arms spread out like a starfish. His eyes were wide with terror and fixed on Reese in the middle of the room, who was busy holding down a burly woman dressed entirely in black and struggling uselessly against his iron grip. Reese turned towards them and gave them a cheery wave.

"Oh, good to see you've made it, too," Finch said. Sameen turned to find him sitting primly on the living room sofa, hands folded over his lap.

"What exactly happened here, Finch?" Carter asked, eyeing the woman on the living room carpet with distaste.

"Turns out video games are bad for you after all," Finch said, and raised his eyebrows meaningfully at Jenkins, who released a meek whimper.

*

It took a bit of time to clean up the mess. They left the woman for Fusco, and Jenkins to his own devices, then all piled into the car Sameen and Carter had arrived in. Finch and Reese attempted to sum up the past hour, but Sameen's bafflement at the entire situation didn't lessen even after Finch's explanation.

"The transactions we found were from a video game? So you're telling me this dude was part of some online guild of nerds selling virtual gold for real money?" she repeated back at him.

"And lots of it," Reese piped up from the backseat. "They were making serious bank."

"Indeed," Finch confirmed. "So much so that Mr. Jenkins figured he could sell it for less and still make enough. So he split off and formed his own group, taking most of the customer base with him."

"He didn't realize that the entire venture was tied up with some seriously shady people who didn't appreciate some amateur punk messing up their business," Reese said.

"This is ridiculous," Carter groaned, exasperated. "People are really killing each other over video games these days?"

"I thought with how long you've been a homicide detective you must have seen weirder stuff," Sameen said, catching her gaze in the rear-view mirror.

Carter gave her a smile, and Sameen quickly focused back on the road. She preferred not to let anything slip in front of Finch and Reese. Some deeply buried part of her wanted Carter's smiles for her to be between the two of them only.

"I guess I always think I've seen the weirdest things human beings do to each other, and then I'm proven wrong every time," Carter said, quietly amused.

"There's our lesson to be taken from this case," Finch said.

"Human beings are really goddamn weird?" Sameen asked.

"Precisely." Finch shot her a quick, sharp grin. Sameen didn't bother suppressing her smile this time.

They parted at the library. Finch and Reese made their way upstairs immediately, heads low together, in the middle of intently discussing some book Shaw had never heard of. Carter lingered in the backseat for a while, seemingly reluctant to leave.

"I guess now that this case is over there's no reason for you to visit me at work anymore," she said, her tone light.

Sameen's stomach twisted. She had deliberately avoided thinking about this, about how much she was going to miss Carter's quiet presence next to her, somehow teasing one small fact after the other out of Sameen. Carter wanting to know about her, even the things no one else cared about—it had been a long time since that feeling elicited anything but suspicion and annoyance in Sameen.

"I'm going to miss our little get togethers," Carter said when Sameen didn't answer.

Sameen's chest felt desperately full and empty at the same time. She breathed out slowly, and forced a smile onto her face that looked easy, even if it took effort.

"Too bad we're gonna have to break your co-worker's heart," she said. "He was really rooting for you." She thought about Carter's arm around her, fingers firm around her waist, hot even through the fabric of her sweater.

Carter laughed, a soft, small sound that had Sameen's fingers twitching against the steering wheel.

"He'll live."

Carter finally opened the door and climbed out of the car. As she passed Sameen in the driver's seat, she rapped lightly against the glass with her knuckles. Sameen rolled down the window and gave her a questioning glance.

"Then again, it'd be a shame to disappoint him," Carter said, and suddenly, her hand was curling into Sameen's hair. Sameen barely had time to suck in a surprised breath before Carter's mouth was on hers.

Relief flooded Sameen’s mind, chasing away the anxious feeling in her chest. The kiss was short, just a quick press of lips, gentle but insistent. Carter moved away far too soon, and Sameen chased after her warmth, one hand coming up to tangle into the collar of her coat. Sameen pulled her down and kissed her again, open mouthed, shuddering when she felt Carter sigh against her.

Sameen wanted her so much closer, wished for a few dizzying seconds she could vault over the stupid window and press up against Carter until passersby couldn't discern where either of them ended or began, public sidewalk be damned. Carter's mouth was so hot, moving against hers in a way that had Sameen's breath desperately stuttering in her chest. She thought about how warm Carter's skin had felt underneath her palm, how much she couldn't wait to get her hands on her without all that fabric in the way. The thought made her moan helplessly.

Carter did pull away eventually, but she was clearly reluctant. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, unfocused, her pupils blown wide. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was heavy, and Sameen's mind flashed back to that first night in Finch's car, the quiet moment they shared. She was surprised to realize she was smiling, but it was okay because Carter was, too.

Carter seemed to realize that they were in the middle of a New York sidewalk, and straightened up with an embarrassed cough as she straightened her collar. Sameen watched her fingers move against her throat, heat pooling low in her belly.

"Meet me at the precinct tomorrow, at six," Carter said, still obviously staring at Sameen's mouth. "If I make my coworker cover for my date nights, I at least want an actual date out of it."

"Okay," Sameen breathed. She thought about the casually intimate way Carter had touched her in front of everyone, realizing that next time she did, there would be no pretense involved. Her heart thumped in her chest.

Carter's hand slid out of Sameen's hair, and she missed its warmth immediately.

"Goodbye, Sameen," Carter said. Sameen immediately catalogued the way her first name sounded in Carter's mouth, fond and slightly awed.

"Goodbye, Joss," Sameen said. This time, when she said her name, it didn’t feel wrong at all. 

Sameen watched Carter's retreating form until she vanished around a corner, hiding her smile behind her hand. Reese and Finch were never going to let her live this down. She found that she was completely fine with that.


End file.
